Today, the European Council appointed Frank Elderson as a member of the European Central Bank’s executive board. Frank Elderson is currently a member of the executive board of De Nederlandsche Bank (the national central bank of The Netherlands). He will take up his duties on 15 December 2020 for a non-renewable term of eight years. Frank Elderson will replace the outgoing member Yves Mersch, whose term of office expires on 14 December 2020.

The European Council took the decision after consulting the European Parliament and the governing council of the ECB.

The Council (Economic and Financial Affairs) issued a formal recommendation to the European Council to appoint Frank Elderson on 9 October 2020. The governing council of the ECB delivered its opinion on the appointment on 28 October 2020. The European Parliament delivered its opinion on 24 November 2020.

Background

Article 283(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union specifies that appointments to the ECB executive board are made ‘by the European Council, acting by a qualified majority, from among persons of recognised standing and professional experience in monetary or banking matters, on a recommendation from the Council, after it has consulted the European Parliament and the Governing Council of the European Central Bank.’

The ECB executive board is responsible for the implementation of euro-area monetary policy, as laid down by the ECB governing council. It is composed of the President, the Vice-President and four other members, all appointed for a non-renewable eight-year term. The governing council is composed of six executive board members and the governors of the national central banks of the euro-area member states.

European Council decision

Bio of Frank Elderson (De Nederlandsche Bank website)

It was with great sadness that the EMCDDA learned of the passing of Richard Hartnoll on 9 December, following a long illness.

Richard made a major contribution to the development of the European drug information system, first through his work with the Council of Europe’s Pompidou Group and, subsequently, through his pioneering work at the EMCDDA.

Richard was involved in the activities of the EMCDDA from its very outset, joining the agency as Head of the Epidemiology Department in 1995. He worked at the agency until 2002, and in these years, made a substantial contribution to the development of the current EU drug monitoring system. In many ways, he can be regarded as the father figure of the EMCDDA’s core epidemiological indicators.

Before joining the agency, Richard worked at the influential Drug Indicators Project in London, and at the Institut Municipal d’Investigació Mèdica (IMIM) in Barcelona.

His work spanned all of the critical drug monitoring questions of the day — and included the development work that resulted in Europe’s current approach to monitoring drug treatment.

In his retirement, Richard found a new love, photography, and would enjoy strolling through Lisbon with a camera in his hand, often inviting his former colleagues to his exhibitions.

He will be greatly missed by all his colleagues at the EMCDDA and we send our condolences to his loving family.

The presentation focused on three specific points in time when young people need particular support to maintain their integration progress. These are when turning 18, when getting a positive asylum decision and at first reception. FRA discussed the challenges and good practices at the local level. 

The training manual will be developed using the guidance set in the FRA’s and the European Commission’s Handbook on Guardianship for children deprived of parental care, as well as principles in the UN’s child rights convention and EU law. For its development, FRA will closely cooperate with the European Network of Guardianship, formed by representatives from different Member States.

During the discussion, FRA drew on its existing findings in the field of AI and big data, in particular those related to facial recognition technology, data quality, discrimination in data-supported decision making. It also referred to preliminary findings from its research on artificial intelligence and fundamental rights published on 14 December.